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Measuring intranodal pressure and lymph viscosity to elucidate mechanisms of arthritic flare and therapeutic outcomes
Author(s) -
Bouta Echoe M.,
Wood Ronald W.,
Perry Seth W.,
Brown Edward B.,
Ritchlin Christopher T.,
Xing Lianping,
Schwarz Edward M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06237.x
Subject(s) - lymph , lymphatic system , medicine , lymph node , pathology , fluorescein isothiocyanate , immunology , chemistry , fluorescence , physics , quantum mechanics
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease with episodic flares in affected joints; the etiology of RA is largely unknown. Recent studies in mice demonstrated that alterations in lymphatics from affected joints precede flares. Thus, we aimed to develop novel methods for measuring lymph node pressure and lymph viscosity in limbs of mice. Pressure measurements were performed by inserting a glass micropipette connected to a pressure transducer into popliteal lymph nodes (PLN) or axillary lymph nodes (ALN) of mice; subsequently, we determined that the lymphatic pressures of water were 9 and 12 cm, respectively. We are also developing methods for measuring lymph viscosity in lymphatic vessels afferent to PLN, which can be measured by multiphoton fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (MP‐FRAP) of fluorescein isothiocyanate–labeled bovine serum albumin (FITC‐BSA) injected into the hind footpad. These results demonstrate the potential of lymph node pressure and lymph viscosity measurements, and future studies to test these outcomes as biomarkers of arthritic flare are warranted.